The PAYN

The scratching of chalk on the chalkboard came to an abrupt stop, followed by a soft clatter on the wooden floor. Scootaloo's ear twitched at the lack of speaking in front of the room. She groggily raised her head, looking around her. Sweetie Belle sat in the desk to her right, sitting up with a curious expression on her face. Apple Bloom, on the other side, was likewise turning her head to search the room.

"Where did Miss Cheerilee go?" Sweetie Belle asked. Nopony responded. The other foals cautiously pushed out from their desks, trotting over to the front desk.

"She's not hiding under her desk." Snips observed.

"Is there a trap door?" Somepony asked.

"Maybe Trixie's giving a surprise performance." A filly offered. The children milled around aimlessly, wondering what on earth was going on. They were alone.

"Come on!" Scootaloo nodded at her friends. "We may as well go outside."

"Uh, I think we should stay put." Apple Bloom balked. Scootaloo ignored her, racing for the front door. She burst into the afternoon sunlight. With nothing else to do, the other children followed her. Scootaloo turned to sweep her vision across the schoolyard. It was empty, save for the foals.

"...Weird."

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom trotted up to their Pegasus friend. She waved at them.

"Sup guys?"

"Scoots, doesn't this feel... wrong?" Apple Bloom asked nervously.

Scootaloo wrinkled her nose. "Wrong? How?"

Apple Bloom gaped at her. "Miss Cheerilee's gone. Shouldn't we go get somepony?"

"She probably just slipped out while we weren't looking to go snog Big Mac or something." Scootaloo said dismissively.

"No, she didn't, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle swallowed. "I watched. She just... disappeared."

"Well, then somepony teleported her. Duh."

"This was different," Sweetie Belle insisted. "No burst of magic, no sound of energy, no flash of light. It was like, she just disappeared. Poof. Gone."

"You guys are so paranoid." Scootaloo snickered. She bounded over to her scooter, fitting her helmet on her head. "Get in the wagon; let's go to Sweet Apple Acres."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged looks, before following their little orange compatriot. With a kick, Scootaloo was off, towing the wagon behind her. The trio remained silent as they rode. In a few short minutes, they arrived at the fenceline.

"Uh, I don't see Big Mac out in the field." Apple Bloom spoke in a worried tone.

"I told you, he's probably with Cheerilee," Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's just go get Applejack." She hauled them closer to the barn. Apple Bloom hopped out, trotting around to the front.

"Sis? Sis, are you there?" Apple Bloom called out. When she received no answer, she turned to give a panicked look at her friends.

"Maybe she's taking a break?" Sweetie Belle tried to smile reassuringly. Applejack never took breaks.

"Or maybe she's in the orchard?" Scootaloo groaned impatiently. Apple Bloom raced past them in the direction of the apple trees.

"Applejack? Applejack!" Apple Bloom began shouting. She stopped, panting slightly. Nopony came.

"Applejack! Granny!" Apple Bloom turned, galloping at full speed to the farmhouse. She burst through the front door, clambering into the kitchen. Her friends watched, eyes widening as Apple Bloom's calling turned into desperate screaming. "Applejack! Big Mac! Granny!"

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo waited silently. After a few minutes, Apple Bloom walked stiffly out from where she had burst in.

"It's... it's empty."

Scootaloo grimaced slightly. "They... they must be in town."

"Wh-what if they're not?" Sweetie Belle asked timidly.

"They're in town!" Scootaloo snapped. She stopped when her friends flinched at her raising her voice, then facehoofed. "Ugh, I'm sorry, guys. Look, it's nothing, okay? Come on. We'll go to town, and I guarantee you that we'll find them."

~~~

"Does this look like nothin' to you?!" Now it was Apple Bloom's turn to yell. The marketplace was abandoned, every booth left open and unpacked. All the vendors had mysteriously vanished. The CMC discovered several other children wandering aimlessly, hesitantly snooping around. Apple Bloom rounded on Scootaloo upon their arrival.

"Hey, what are you getting mad at me for?" Scootaloo asked defensively.

"You said my family would be here!"

"This isn't my fault!"

"What's goin' on?"

"I don't know!"

"Guys!" Sweetie Belle shouted over her friends' bickering. "We aren't getting anything done standing here yelling at each other!"

Apple Bloom's ears drooped. "... I'm sorry. I'm just worried."

"Me too," Scootaloo sighed. "What if, Rainbow Dash is just playing a prank?" Her eyes lit up at the idea. "Yeah, a big, good prank to scare us. She probably thinks we're wetting ourselves right now!"

"That'd be one heck of a prank." They heard somepony else say. The girls turned to look at Dinky Doo, who was calmly approaching them. She looked slightly frazzled, but relatively composed. "But I don't think my mom would be in on it. I checked, too. She's not home. I even looked for Doc, but he's gone, too."

The Crusaders considered this.

"Whoa, idea!" Scootaloo grinned. "What if this is all one big surprise for your birthday, Dinky?"

Dinky Doo looked shocked at the idea. "Really? Would the whole town show up at a party for me?"

Sweetie Belle took to the suggestion. "Yeah, Pinkie Pie's done things kinda like this before."

"Well, wouldn't my family tell me?" Apple Bloom piped up.

"Not if they thought you might blurt something out and ruin the surprise." Scootaloo nickered. Apple Bloom looked slightly offended at the remark, but said nothing.

"Well, gosh, I guess it would be pretty cool if Mom went out of her way to throw such a big party for me," Dinky began to blush. "I mean, none of my birthdays have ever been really big parties. Maybe she's been saving up?"

"That sounds like a good explanation," Sweetie Belle nodded approvingly. "I mean, you only turn sixteen once. Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, Dinky."

"Thank you." Dinky's face flushed.

Scootaloo rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "So, what do we do? They have to come out eventually."

Apple Bloom pondered for a second. "My best guess is Sugarcube Corner. Maybe we can catch Pinkie and find out where everypony--"

A piercing scream interrupted the small Earth Pony mid-sentence. The girls jerked their heads in the direction of the sound. Without a moment's hesitation, they galloped over the edge of the village. A gaggle of foals crowded in the middle of the dirt road.

"We're trapped!"

"Let us out!"

"Why can't we get out?"

The girls all slowed down. As they drew nearer, the clear road was replaced by a solid gray wall. Nothing significant about it. Just a wall. The closer they got, the more consistent it appeared. It stretched on in both directions as far as the eye could see.

"What the...?" Scootaloo breathed. She pushed her way into the crowd, right up to the big gray thing. It went far up into the sky, right up until it faded into the sky itself. Hesitantly, she raised a hoof to touch it. She recoiled instantly on contact. It hurt!

Not a burn, shock, freeze, or anything describable. Just pain.

"What's going on?" She screamed at nopony in particular.

"It's an illusion!" Sweetie Belle called out. She trotted up to her, squeezing past the other frightened children. "It only appears up close. When you get far away, it just disappears."

"But what is it?" Scootaloo groaned. Sweetie Belle brought up a foreleg to brush its surface. "Don't touch it!" She ogled at Scootaloo's outburst. "It... hurts."

With a second thought, Sweetie Belle drew her hoof back. "...Maybe it's Discord's work."

"Unless he up and turned evil again, and I don't so," Apple Bloom commented.

Dinky nosed her way over to the Crusaders. "Whoa. That's freaky."

The girls all slumped. Behind them, the children still murmured in hushed, tense voices. Sweetie Belle smiled apologetically. "Sorry Dinky, I guess this isn't a birthday surprise."

Dinky shrugged. "It was a long-shot. Right now, I'm just concerned about finding my Mom. She wouldn't leave me for anything, so something must have took--"

The girls all gasped. The others screamed in shock. Dinky must have shared the fate of everypony else that was missing, because in a split second, she was standing there, and the next, she was gone.